zep1706 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 However after this i don't think he can be written off yet. He'll definitely be back next year. It is still too early to write him off completely. I don't think he will be a dominant player winning lots of titles in a year again but he can still be a contender at slams. 10 consecutive slam winning years with all those injuries is actually a freakish achievement. It can't continue forever. I think next year would tell us if he is going to be one of the top contender at majors again or not. Let's wait and see. Now that the majors are over I want him to go out and start hitting the ball freely without worrying about the result. I think he is just too tentative and second guessing himself in tight moments. His overall game is not far off but those small things matter a lot in tennis. That is what separates the slam winners and the quarter finalists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raghav_12 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 It is still too early to write him off completely. I don't think he will be a dominant player winning lots of titles in a year again but he can still be a contender at slams. 10 consecutive slam winning years with all those injuries is actually a freakish achievement. It can't continue forever. I think next year would tell us if he is going to be one of the top contender at majors again or not. Let's wait and see. Now that the majors are over I want him to go out and start hitting the ball freely without worrying about the result. I think he is just too tentative and second guessing himself in tight moments. His overall game is not far off but those small things matter a lot in tennis. That is what separates the slam winners and the quarter finalists. Yes, now unless situation demands he doesn't go for winners. Particularly in last two sets he was hitting winners only when he was completely against the wall. He earlier had playing for the life attitude on all points now he is not able to maintain that attitude for really long. Maybe that is fatigue or not possible years after years. Bottomline is he needs to play freely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep1706 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Yes' date=' now unless situation demands he doesn't go for winners. Particularly in last two sets he was hitting winners only when he was completely against the wall. He earlier had playing for the life attitude on all points now he is not able to maintain that attitude for really long. Maybe that is fatigue or not possible years after years. Bottomline is he needs to play freely.[/quote'] He has no confidence in his FH. It was his go to shot in tight moments. He would run around his BH to hit a FH and it worked almost always. Now it is exactly the opposite. He can't even put away mid court FHs. Unless he finds that shot again he won't win anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi B Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Oh man,feel for nadal.I wanted him to do well in this tournie and actually he did start well against fogini but after being 2 sets up you shouldn't lose in 5 against a player like foginni. Nadal is struggling mentally,he is unable to maintain a solid level throughout the match,needs to work really hard on that aspect and play more matches to get his confidence back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi B Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 This slump reminds me a bit of Federer from 2010-2011 uso period.this was probably fed's worst period and he lost unimaginable matches from dominant positions (tsonga in wimb qf,djoko uso etc). That was the period he lost to guys like gasquet,melzer etc but all he needed was confidence which he did post the uso 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi B Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Fognini redlined his game as usual but without the FH Nadal can't win anything against a decent opponent. He needs it back asap. With a guy like nadal,you should expect him to return stronger and fix that FH problem(that's his main weapon) but he's 29 already and more mileage than anyone on the field except fed ,it'll not be easy to play at the level he used to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep1706 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 With a guy like nadal' date='you should expect him to return stronger and fix that FH problem(that's his main weapon) but he's 29 already and more mileage than anyone on the field except fed ,it'll not be easy to play at the level he used to[/quote'] Absolutely. We will know that in 2016. It is actually unusual to not have a poor year in a career this long. Look at Murray he was nowhere in the scene last year and this year he has bounced back quite well. So we will have to wait and see if Nadal can make a comeback next year. If does not come back in 2016 I don't see him coming back to the top again and he might hang his boots quietly in 2017. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep1706 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 This slump reminds me a bit of Federer from 2010-2011 uso period.this was probably fed's worst period and he lost unimaginable matches from dominant positions (tsonga in wimb qf,djoko uso etc). That was the period he lost to guys like gasquet,melzer etc but all he needed was confidence which he did post the uso 2011 Federer was much better in 2010-11 than what Nadal is now. Sure he lost a few matches to the likes of Tsonga or Berdych who btw are very good players on their day, but he was mostly losing to either Nadal or Djokovic. Nadal's this year is comparable to Federer's 2013. He came back quite well in 2014 although he has not won a slam (stopped a couple of times from sure wins by Djokovic) but his level of play has been great for his age. Let's see if Nadal can make a similar come back. It will be tougher for him than Federer though mainly because he does not have that Federer serve to get so many free points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Watched set 5 early morning today. Both served ****, really ****. DFs galore, short balls asking to be hit. The rallies were intense and gruelling and as the match wore on Nadal was getting bossed more and more and more. I don't know what the stats are but I'm guessing Fognini hit many more winners in set 5. Disappointed Novak won't face Nadal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda-esque Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 In spite of some incredible winners from Fabio, the tennis was low grade.. Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi B Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Watched set 5 early morning today. Both served ****, really ****. DFs galore, short balls asking to be hit. The rallies were intense and gruelling and as the match wore on Nadal was getting bossed more and more and more. I don't know what the stats are but I'm guessing Fognini hit many more winners in set 5. Disappointed Novak won't face Nadal. You still after that meaningless h2h against rafa :cantstop: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep1706 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 You still after that meaningless h2h against rafa :cantstop: How can it be meaningless if he cares about it so much? Oh the irony. :hysterical: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi B Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Kohlschreiber is actually playing pretty well ,broke fed twice only to be broken back in the next game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi B Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 How can it be meaningless if he cares about it so much? Oh the irony. :hysterical: Point hai :giggle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi B Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Federer wins but boy what a killer draw he has got,isner,berdych,murray/stan and Djokovic lol. It's better if Federer plays freely without any pressure if he reaches the semis ,most likely he'll lose to berdych in the qf or stan in the semis (he's not playing well) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep1706 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Federer wins but boy what a killer draw he has got,isner,berdych,murray/stan and Djokovic lol. It's better if Federer plays freely without any pressure if he reaches the semis ,most likely he'll lose to berdych in the qf or stan in the semis (he's not playing well) Yes it is not an easy draw. But he should come through if he plays at his normal level unless an opponent plays out of his skin. Djokovic is already in the final though. His draw is a joke. I am surprised that bones has not cried about it yet. If it was Nadal in Djokovic's place we would have had at least 2-3 emotional outbursts already. :hysterical: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Yes it is not an easy draw. But he should come through if he plays at his normal level unless an opponent plays out of his skin. Djokovic is already in the final though. His draw is a joke. I am surprised that bones has not cried about it yet. If it was Nadal in Djokovic's place we would have had at least 2-3 emotional outbursts already. :hysterical: If Cilic serves well, he can beat Djokovic on this fast surface. Unlikely, but he has the odds on his side to break his bagel against Djokovic. An A game cilic is too good not to do it if Djokovic has a sub-par day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep1706 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 If Cilic serves well' date=' he can beat Djokovic on this fast surface. Unlikely, but he has the odds on his side to break his bagel against Djokovic. An A game cilic is too good not to do it if Djokovic has a sub-par day.[/quote'] The way Cilic is playing right now it is highly unlikely that he would cause any problem. Besides Cilic's game doesn't pose much of a threat to Djokovic. His serve is very good but not big enough to trouble Djokovic (Djokovic struggles against servers who can serve 130-135 mph on a consistent basis, Cilic's is a good 5-10 mph slower although it is a great serve otherwise) and Djokovic owns him from the baseline. IMO the only player in Djokovic's half that has a slight chance of causing an upset is Tsonga if he has one of his best days. Tsonga has the tools to trouble him of he plays at his best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumar713 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Djoker through to QF. Not playing at his best. Time to step up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep1706 Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Repeat of the Wimbledon final. Djokovic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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